Sporting Apparatus With Monitoring Device

ABSTRACT

A sporting apparatus includes a monitoring device. The monitoring device may add no weight to the sporting apparatus relative to a comparable sporting apparatus without the monitoring device. The monitoring device may have a center of gravity substantially aligning with the center of gravity of the sporting apparatus, resulting in a sporting apparatus with a monitor having substantially the same center of gravity as a comparable sporting apparatus without a monitor. The sporting apparatus monitor may be configured to trim unreliable post impact swing data and replace it with extrapolated pre-impact swing data and/or more reliable post impact swing data.

BACKGROUND

Golfers and other sports enthusiasts are constantly looking for ways toimprove their game. Golfers in particular are relying more heavily ontechnological innovations to enhance whatever natural abilities theyhave. Such innovations take the form of improved golf equipment such asgolf clubs, golf shoes, golf gloves, golf balls, and even golf attire.

Golfers and golf club equipment manufacturers have been increasinglyrelying upon sensors and monitors to evaluate a golfer's swing. Sensorsand monitors may track conditions, such as club head speed, attackangle, launch angle, golf ball spin rate and spin direction, and so on.And sellers of golf club equipment, including outlets that specialize ingolf club fitting, increasingly rely on such sensors and monitors toassist a prospective purchaser in selecting golf clubs that best matchtheir particular golf swing characteristics.

One such sensor that is commercially available is the SB2 sensoravailable from Swingbyte, LLC (previously Swingbyte, Inc.) of Chicago,Ill. Such sensors, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,696,482, incorporatedin its entirety by reference herein, are typically removeably attachedto the shaft of a golf club, for example with a clamping mechanism, orfixed to the shaft, for example, with an adhesive. Such sensors, alsotermed “three-dimensional golf swing analyzers,” work as an InertialMeasurement Unit (IMU), and typically include, for example, a three-axisaccelerometer capable of producing and transmitting linear accelerationdata, a three-axis gyroscope capable of producing and transmittingangular velocity data, a first microprocessor that receives data fromthe accelerometer and the gyroscope and processes the data, a firstcomputer memory wherein the microprocessor stores the processed data,and a radio transmitter for transmitting the processed data from thefirst computer memory. MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) technologymay be used for the accelerometer and the gyroscope. The sensor istypically powered by a battery or other suitable power source. A housingis used to hold the microprocessor, accelerometer, gyroscope computermemory, radio transmitter, and battery.

Such devices capture and analyze golf swing (or other sporting apparatusmotion) data by attaching a sensor to a golf club either below the gripor on the cap, or by integrating the sensor into the shaft. Afterhitting a shot or swinging the golf club (or other sporting apparatus)players and instructors can view an interactive, three-dimensionalanimation of the swing, along with key metrics, such as club head speed,path, plane, and various angles at impact. It is generally preferred toaffix such sensors at a position remote from the golf club head, due tothe head's tendency to vibrate violently at the point of impact,potentially disrupting the sensor's attempts to measure the swingcharacteristics. Such sensors use a transmitter to send processed linearand angular movement data that defines a sporting apparatus swing, i.e.,a golf club swing, to a receiver on a mobile device, such as a smartphone, tablet computer, or laptop computer. A computer applicationrunning on the mobile device receives the processed data, processes thedata further and displays a graphical representation of the entire swingwith comprehensive statistics for every point of the swing. Theprocessed data is stored and later used along with theoretical data tocoach a golfer or other sporting apparatus user on his or her swing.

But attaching such sensors, whether to the shaft of a golf club orotherwise, can alter the golfer's normal swing and feel due to theweight of the sensor, which may be 10-50 grams and more commonly around30 grams. For a 300 gram driver, for example, a 30 gram sensor thusrepresents a 10% deviation from the club's playing weight. Such addedweight may be particularly noticeable to better players, and inparticular tour professionals. Moreover, attaching such sensors to theshaft may not be the ideal location for at least three reasons: first,the sensor may be visible/distracting to the player when positioned onthe shaft, second, the sensor may be positioned at inconsistentpositions along the shaft from club to club or player to player, andthird, positioning on the shaft may not be the most beneficial positionfrom which to monitor the user's swing pattern.

Specific to this third point, attaching a sensor to the golf club shaft,for example near the grip, may not precisely monitor the path of thegolf club, because during the swing, the shaft flexes, and at impact,the golf club head slows slightly, while the math governing the swingvisualization assumes the shaft is substantially rigid and not flexing,so no accelerations to directions other than where the hands seem to beguiding a completely rigid shaft are accounted for. The projected swingpath thus follows where the hands would project a rigid cylinder duringa swing.

U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2013/0267338 A1, incorporatedin its entirety by reference herein, discloses a monitoring deviceincluding a sensor and transmitter, which may be attached to a golf clubhead and may be configured to transmit data related to thecharacteristics of a golf swing to a remote computer.

A problem, however, with mounting sensors in the golf club head is thatoff center hits (heel or toe, high face/low face), tend to cause thehead to wobble back and forth, from the point of impact through aportion of the follow through, for example about half way through thefollow through (when the club passes waist height). Theaccelerometer/gyroscopes/IMUs pick up such club head wobble, anddepending on the math driving the algorithm, these forces/accelerationsin unusual directions (depending on where the sensor is located) mayadversely affect the projected swing path visualization. Moreover, therewill be more twisting forces at takeaway (as the shaft torques and handsare rotated). There will be potentially unreliable data at the top ofthe swing from transition from backswing to downswing (where the shaftflexes quite a bit). With this flex, the orientation of the head to theoriginal (static) might be off 5-10 degrees and twisted 2-5 degrees. Atimpact, again, the flex and wobble may tend to cause some accelerations.Back and forth oscillation and also at impact, the shaft usually flexesso that the head is flung in front of the static shaft plane andoriented inside the plane (closer to the feet) as the dynamic movementcauses the center of gravity of the head to align with the center ofgravity of the club.

SUMMARY

The following presents a general summary of aspects of the disclosure inorder to provide a basic understanding thereof. This summary is not anextensive overview of the disclosure. It is not intended to identify keyor critical elements of the disclosure or to delineate the scope of thedisclosure. The following summary merely presents some concepts of thedisclosure in a general form as a prelude to the more detaileddescription provided below. The present disclosure describes a golf clubhead comprising a monitoring device configured, when placed within thegolf club head, to add substantially no mass relative to a comparablegolf club head without the monitoring device, the monitoring deviceconfigured to transmit data responsive to a pre-impact swing path of thegolf club head, to disregard or trim data responsive to a post-impactswing path, and to determine a hypothetical post-impact swing path basedat least in part on at least a portion of the pre-impact swing path.

In another aspect, the golf club head may further comprise a soleportion and a face portion, the sole portion comprising a hollow sizedand shaped to compliment the monitoring device when the monitoringdevice is placed within the hollow, the hollow having a volumecorresponding to a mass of displaced material from the golf club head,the mass of displaced material substantially equaling the mass of themonitoring device as installed in the golf club head.

In another aspect, the monitoring device may be further configured todetermine the hypothetical post-impact swing path based at least in parton at least a portion of the pre-impact swing path and at least in parton a portion of the post-impact swing path.

In still another aspect of the disclosure, the hypothetical post-impactswing path may comprise a path from a point of impact of the golf clubhead with a golf ball until a point substantially corresponding to apost-impact position at which post-impact golf club head vibrations havesubstantially ceased.

Yet another aspect of the disclosure may provide a system comprising aremote device and a sporting apparatus comprising a first monitoringdevice and a second monitoring device, the first monitoring device andsecond monitoring device being spaced apart relative to a longitudinalaxis of the sporting apparatus and secured to the sporting apparatus,the first monitoring device and second monitoring device each comprisinga monitoring device configured to transmit data corresponding to a swingof the sporting apparatus to the remote device, the system configuredto:

-   -   a. determine which of the first monitoring device and the second        monitoring device is, during a first portion of the swing of the        sporting apparatus, transmitting data most reflective of the        first portion of swing of the sporting apparatus,    -   b. capture the data most reflective of the first portion of the        swing of the sporting apparatus,    -   c. determine which of the first monitoring device and the second        monitoring device is, during a second portion of the swing of        the sporting apparatus, transmitting data most reflective of the        second portion of the swing of the sporting apparatus,    -   d. capture the data most reflective of the second portion of the        swing of the sporting apparatus, and    -   e. accumulate the data most reflective of the first portion of        the swing of the sporting apparatus with the data most        reflective of a second portion of the swing of the sporting        apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not limitedin the accompanying figures, in which like reference numerals indicatesimilar elements throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a monitoring device of the prior artattached to a sporting apparatus, such as a golf club shaft.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a portion of a sporting apparatus of thepresent disclosure, such as a golf club head with a monitoring deviceconfigured to be placed therein.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the golf club head and monitoring deviceof FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary monitoring device ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 4a is a schematic illustration of an exemplary securing structurefor the monitoring device of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is another schematic illustration of an exemplary monitoringdevice of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5a is another schematic illustration of an exemplary securingstructure for the monitoring device of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is another schematic illustration of an exemplary monitoringdevice of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6a is another schematic illustration of an exemplary securingstructure for the monitoring device of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is another schematic illustration of an exemplary monitoringdevice of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7a is another schematic illustration of an exemplary securingstructure for the monitoring device of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is another schematic illustration of an exemplary monitoringdevice of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of a sporting apparatus and a monitoringdevice of the present disclosure illustrating various centers of gravityfor the monitoring device and the sporting apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a sporting apparatus of the presentdisclosure with a monitoring device of the present disclosure installedtherein.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view along line 10A-10B of the sportingapparatus of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration of a graphic display of a swing pathfor a sporting apparatus such as a golf club.

FIG. 13 is a schematic illustration of a graphic display of a swing pathfor a sporting apparatus such as a golf club illustrating post impactswing path anomalies and correction therefore according to the teachingsof the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 15 is a schematic illustration of a system of the presentdisclosure comprising a sporting apparatus configured with multiplemonitoring devices in communication with a remote device.

FIG. 16 is a schematic illustration of a graphic display of a swing pathfor a sporting apparatus such as a golf club illustrating an aspect ofthe disclosure in which multiple monitoring devices may be used, forexample, at different portions of the swing path.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 18 is an exemplary block diagram representing a computer system inwhich aspects of the methods and systems disclosed herein or portionsthereof may be incorporated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used herein, the term “sporting apparatus” means an object intendedto be used in a game or sport by swinging at, capturing, hitting,throwing, or otherwise impacting another object (sports object) such asa ball, puck, etc. including in both the actual and virtual realms. Asporting apparatus includes, but is not limited to baseball bats,cricket bats, golf clubs, hockey sticks, tennis rackets, squash rackets,racquetball rackets, badminton rackets, or lacrosse sticks, and furtherincludes devices such as video game controllers intended to mimic suchsporting apparatus. A “sporting apparatus” may impact or be associatedwith an impact with device such as a sporting object, and thus may also,for example, include a shoe configured to kick a soccer ball orfootball, or apparel, such as a golf glove, body suit, or helmet, that auser might wear when causing an impact. A sporting apparatus may have animpact area, which is an area of the sporting apparatus that normallyimpacts another sporting apparatus or sports object when participatingin a sport. For example, an impact area may include some or all of agolf club head (i.e., golf club head 1510) for golf, bat barrel forbaseball, or the like. A non-impact area may be an area of the sportingapparatus that is not normally impacted by another sporting apparatus,such as a golf club shaft (i.e., shaft 1520), racket handle, bat handle,or the like. While the disclosure refers, for convenience, primarily togolf clubs, golf club heads, and golf-related equipment, it should beunderstood that this is for brevity only, and that the teachings anddisclosures herein are intended to apply to any sporting apparatus andnot merely golf clubs.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a sporting apparatuscomprising a golf club shaft, generally 10, of the prior art, having agolf club head (not shown) affixed to a golf club shaft 10 and includinga golf club grip 12. Also illustrated in FIG. 1 is a monitoring device14, such as the Swingbyte SB2 sensor previously described, attached tothe golf club shaft 10 as is known, for example, with a clamp or strap16. Such monitoring devices 14 may be configured to transmitinformation, data, graphics, etc. to a remote device 18, such as acomputer, laptop, tablet, smart phone, etc., where it may be accessed,displayed, or monitored on a display 20.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is illustrated an aspect of thedisclosure comprising a golf club head, generally 212. In this example,the golf club head 212 may comprise an iron type golf club head, forexample, a wedge, having a sole 214, a hosel 216, a back or “muscle”portion 218, and a face (not shown). As illustrated, the golf club head212 may comprise a hollow portion 220. The hollow portion 220 may beforged as part of the golf club head, cast in, drilled out, milled in,or otherwise formed in the golf club head 212. In this example, thehollow portion 220 may be formed in the region of the golf club headproximate to or comprising the sole 214. The hollow portion 220 may passfrom a toe region 222 through the sole to a heel region 224 asillustrated, or may “dead end” within the golf club head 212, forexample, and may thus comprise only one entry point. While the hollowportion 220 is illustrated in FIG. 2 as “tunneling” into the sole 214,it will be appreciated that the hollow portion 220 may comprise an openchannel, indentation, groove, or other type of recess of sufficient sizeand shape to receive all or a substantial portion of a monitoring devicetherein. Although the golf club head 212 of FIG. 2 is illustrated as aniron-type golf club head, the present disclosure is intended to coverany type of golf club or head therefore, including drivers, fairwaywoods, hybrids, irons, and putters.

The hollow portion 220 may result in an undesirable loss of weight ofthe golf club head 212 relative to the golf club grip 12 of FIG. 1. Thisloss of weight or mass is illustrated schematically by a hypotheticalplug of material, generally 226, of FIG. 2, having a displaced mass ofM₁. The hypothetical plug of material 226 may have a volumesubstantially equal to the volume of the hollow portion 220, assumingthe hollow portion 220 has contoured ends complimenting the toe region222 and heel region 224. Of course, different configurations for thehypothetical plug of material 226 are possible, depending on the size,shape, location, etc., of the hollow portion 220. As will besubsequently described, an aspect of the present disclosure maycompensate for this displaced mass M₁ with an appropriately weightedand/or configured monitoring device, and thereby minimize or eveneliminate any perceptible difference in swing weight and swing feelbetween a golf club without a monitoring device and a golf club with amonitoring device.

As further illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, a monitoring device, generally230, may be configured to be installed in the hollow portion 220. Asillustrated in FIG. 11, the hollow portion 220 may run from the toeregion 222 to the heel region 224 to create a passageway through thegolf club head 212 with two open ends. In this aspect, as best seen inFIG. 11, one end of the hollow portion 220 passageway, for example, thatportion exiting the heel region 224, may comprise an access 221configured to receive a threaded bolt or screw 242. In this aspect, thethreaded bolt or screw 242 may be threadably received by a femalethreaded region 244 in either the end 238 or the end 240 of themonitoring device 230. Although a threaded bolt or screw 242 isillustrated and described for the sake of convenience, it will beunderstood that any suitable securing structure may be employed tosecure the monitoring device 230 within the golf club head 212,including by way of example but not limitation, pins, rivets, detents,press fit structures, clamps, and the like.

Alternatively, the hollow portion 220 may be formed in the golf clubhead 212 with just one open end terminating in a “dead end” within thegolf club head 212. In this aspect, the monitoring device 230 may beconfigured with an external thread configured to be threadably receivedin a female threaded region in the wall of the hollow portion 220 (notshown). As yet another alternative, the monitoring device may beconfigured to receive one or more pins, threaded bolts, or screwsthrough the golf club head in a direction generally perpendicular to thehollow portion 220, i.e., as illustrated by arrows “A” and “B” (FIG. 3)for retaining the monitoring device 230 in the golf club head.

In a preferred aspect, the monitoring device 230 may comprise a size andshape substantially corresponding to the hollow portion 220 and/or tothe hypothetical plug of material 226 represented by the hollow portion220. In a highly preferred aspect, the monitoring device 230 may beconfigured to have a mass M₂ substantially equal to the mass M₁ of thehypothetical plug of material 226. This mass M₂ may be achieved, forexample, by employing a monitoring device 230 comprising a sensorcomponent 232, which may comprise, for example, an accelerometer,transmitter, battery, etc. The monitoring device 230 and/or sensorcomponent 232, however, may be smaller than the hollow portion 220and/or may comprise less mass than M₁. It may therefore be advantageousto include as part of the monitoring device 230 one or more “fill”and/or “weighting” elements, such as a weighted portion 234 and/or afiller portion 236. The weighted portion 234 may comprise a relativelyhigh mass material, such as metal, i.e., tungsten, copper, lead, etc.,while the filler portion, if used, may comprise a relatively lightweight material, i.e., a light weight polymer. Some portion or theentire monitoring device 230 may be housed in a protective casing madeof a deformable material such as synthetic rubber in order to provideshock absorption to the monitoring device and/or provide for a more snugfit of the monitoring device 230 once installed with respect to thehollow portion 220.

In another aspect, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 11, the monitoringdevice 230 may comprise a monitoring device center of gravity CG_(s),and the golf club head 212 may also comprise a virtual center of gravityCG_(h) (the virtual center of gravity comprising where the center ofgravity would have been located with the hypothetical plug of material226 in place). The golf club head 212 may also have an actual center ofgravity, CG_(a) somewhat offset from the virtual center of gravityCG_(h) (also known herein as the hypothetical center of gravity) byvirtue of the hypothetical plug of material 226 having been removed fromthe golf club head 212. In this aspect, as illustrated in FIG. 11, themonitoring device center of gravity CG_(s) may be configured such thatwhen the monitoring device 230 is installed in the golf club head 212,it substantially aligns with the virtual center of gravity or actualcenter of gravity. Thus, when M₁=M₂, and CG_(s) is substantially alignedwith CG_(h), the golf club head 212 with the monitoring device 230installed may have neither its mass nor its center of gravity affectedby the monitoring device 230. This may contribute to more accurate swinganalysis.

In a preferred aspect, the monitoring device may be configured with twoends 238, 240 one or both of which may compliment the contours of thegolf club head 212 proximate the ends 238 and/or 240. This is bestillustrated by the hypothetical plug of material 226 of FIG. 2, showinga hypothetical first end 238 a exhibiting a contour similar to and/orsubstantially complimentary of the toe region 222 golf club head 212 anda hypothetical second end 240 a exhibiting a contour similar to and/orsubstantially complimentary of the heel region 224. Such a complimentarycontour is also illustrated by end 238 of FIGS. 1, 10, and 11.

In a preferred aspect, either or both ends 238, 240 of the monitoringdevice, may be threaded or otherwise configured to permit the monitoringdevice 230 to be retained within the hollow portion 220 with a securingstructure. For example, a threaded bolt or screw 242 may pass throughone or more threaded or unthreaded retention flanges 243, and threadinto a female threaded region 244 (best seen in FIGS. 9 and 11) end 240of the monitoring device to permit the monitoring device 230 to beremoveably secured within the golf club head 212.

Alternative exemplary securing structures configured to secure themonitoring device 230 within the hollow portion 220 are illustrated inFIGS. 4-7 and 4 a-7 a. In these examples, monitoring devices, generally400, 500, 600, and 700, may each have a first end 430, 530, 630, and730, respectively, the term “end” in this context including but notlimited to the literal left end of the monitoring device, and alsoincluding some or all of that portion of the monitoring device to theleft of about the midline “M” thereof. The first end 430, 530, 630, and730, may be configured with a first securing structure which maycomprise, for example, an internally threaded portion 444, 544, 644, and744, respectively, for receiving a threaded bolt or other fastener tosecure the respective monitoring devices 400, 500, 600, and 700 within agolf club head as previously described. Alternatively, as will now bereadily appreciated, the first end 430, 530, 630, and 730 may, ratherthan comprising internally threaded portions, comprise an externallythreaded portion (not shown) to be threadably received withincomplimentary internal threads within the hollow portion 220.

Each monitoring device 400, 500, 600, and 700 may further comprise asecond end 440, 540, 640, and 740, the term “end” in this context,including but not limited to, the literal right end of the monitoringdevice, and also including some portion or the entire portion of themonitoring device to the right of about the midline “M” thereof. Asillustrated, the second end 440, 540, 640, and 740 may be generallyopposite the first end, 430, 530, 630, and 730, and may be configuredwith a second securing structure as will now be described.

As illustrated in the example of FIGS. 4 and 4 a, the second securingstructure may comprise an o-ring 450, which may be made of a deformablematerial. The o-ring 450 may be configured to be received within acomplimentary groove in the monitoring device 400 and/or within theinner wall of the hollow portion 220 upon installation of the monitoringdevice 400. The o-ring 450 may assist in securing the second end 440 ofthe monitoring device 400 within the hollow portion, while a threadedbolt or other fastener may secure the first end 430 thereof upon beingthreaded and tightened within the internally threaded portion 444. In analternative aspect, the o-ring 450 may comprise a non-resilient memberor stop that may circumnavigate the second end 440 or may go around onlya portion thereof, and may engage a flange or opposing stop formed onthe inner wall of the hollow portion, which opposing stop may, forexample, comprise a flange that circumnavigates the inner wall of thehollow portion or may go around only a portion thereof.

The second securing structure may alternatively or additionally comprisea flange, wedge, or other structure configured to mate with or slidewithin a complimentary groove, slot, or other recess in the inner wallof the hollow portion 220 upon installation of the monitoring device500. As illustrated in the example of FIGS. 5 and 5 a, the secondsecuring structure may comprise a wedge-shaped structure 550 that may beslideably received within a complimentary shaped slot, groove, or recessin the inner wall of the hollow portion 220 upon installation of themonitoring device 500. A secure fit of the monitoring device 500 on bothends thereof within the golf club head may be achieved, for example, bytightening a bolt into the internally threaded portion 544, which maydraw the second end 540 of the monitoring device 500 into friction fitor locking engagement with the inner wall of the hollow portion 220. Inthis aspect, the second securing structure and complimentary shapedslot, groove, or recess in the inner wall of the hollow portion 220 mayfunction, in addition to comprising a securing structure, as analignment structure or key, enabling the monitoring device 500 to bemounted and retained in the golf club head in a particular orientation,for example, to permit an outer end 560 of the monitoring device 500 tobe contoured to match the contour of the golf club head, such as theheel portion 260 or toe portion 262 thereof.

The second securing structure may alternatively or additionally comprisea configuration similar to the wedge-shaped structure 550 described withrespect to FIGS. 5 and 5 a, for example, a frustum-type configuration asillustrated with respect to monitoring device 600 in FIGS. 6 and 6 a. Inthis aspect, the monitoring device 600 may comprise a first end 630 thatmay be configured substantially as previously described, and may have asecond end 640 that may in whole or in part comprise a frustum 650. Inthe example illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 6 a a semi-conical frustum, i.e.,a frustum comprising an elliptic cone portion or an oval cone portionmay be used. Other shapes, however, such as a true conical frustum, alsotermed a “frustoconical” configuration, a square frustum, or apentagonal frustum, etc., may also be used. It may be desirable, when afrustum or otherwise symmetrical configuration is used for the secondend 640, to include a key 642 or other similar component configured toalign the monitoring device 600 within a keyed slot in the hollowportion 220 in a particular orientation within the hollow portion 220,in order to take advantage of a complimentary contour feature of themonitoring device ends and the golf club contour as will subsequently bedescribed. As will be readily appreciated, the key 642 may alternativelybe positioned within the hollow portion 220 and the corresponding slotpositioned within the second end 640 of the monitoring device 600.Although only one key 642 is illustrated, a plurality of such componentsmay of course be used.

When the monitoring device 600 comprises a frustum, or at least aportion thereof comprises a frustum, as will now be appreciated, thesecond end 640 may be configured to “nest” within a complimentary shapedportion of the hollow portion 220. Such nesting may result in a frictionfit or other clamping engagement, thereby securing the second end 640within the hollow portion 220, for example, when a fastener such as abolt or screw thread is tightened relative to the first end 630.

As illustrated in FIG. 6a , the monitoring device 600 first end 630 mayhave an outer end 635 comprising an elliptical or oval shape when viewedhead-on. Such shape may be the result of the first end 630 having across section of that shape. Such cross section may thus comprise a truevertical cross section, i.e., along lines 6A-6B. Alternatively, theelliptical or oval shape or other non-round shape of the outer end 635may be the result of the outer end 635 having a contour as illustratedby the dotted line 635 a of FIG. 6, intended to illustrate a contourthat might compliment the contour of an outer surface of a golf clubhead, such as a heel end thereof.

Similarly, as illustrated in FIG. 6a , the monitoring device 600 secondend 640 may have an outer end 660 that may have an elliptical or ovalshape when viewed head-on. Such shape may be the result of the secondend 640 having a cross section of that shape. Such cross section maythus comprise a true vertical cross section, i.e., along lines 6C-6D.Alternatively, the elliptical or oval shape or other non-round shape ofthe outer end 660 may be the result of the outer end 660 having acontour as illustrated by the dotted line 660 a of FIG. 6, intended toillustrate a contour that might compliment the contour of an outersurface of a golf club head, such as a toe end thereof.

It will also be appreciated that the hollow portion and any of themonitoring device configurations described herein may have anasymmetrical cross section, or a cross section of partial asymmetry,such as a tear drop, non-equilateral triangle, etc., requiringinstallation of the monitoring device in only one orientation, which maybe convenient, for example, in the case of a monitoring device havingone or more ends having a contour that complement the region of thehollow portion proximate the golf club head, as previously described.

As illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 7 a, the second end securing structure maycomprise an external threaded section 750. In this aspect, the externalthreaded section 750 may permit the monitoring device 700 to bethreadably engaged by complimentary internal threads within the hollowportion 220. In an alternative aspect, both the second end 740 and thefirst end 730 of the monitoring device may comprise an external threadedsection 750, or the external threaded section may run substantially theentire length of the monitoring device 700, potentially eliminating theneed for the internally threaded portion 744 and a bolt or screw tosecure the first end 730 within the hollow portion 220.

As further illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 7 a, the monitoring device 700 maycomprise a monitoring device end 760 having a key, slot, groove, squareor other multisided hole or other recess or protuberance configured toengage a tool to install the monitoring device 700 in the hollow portion220. In this example, the monitoring device end 760 comprises a Phillipshead slot 765.

Referring now to FIG. 8, there is illustrated an example of how amonitoring device, generally 800, may be configured according to certainaspects described herein. The monitoring device 800 may comprise anouter casing 810 that may have a generally cylindrical shape asillustrated, or any other convenient shape. The outer casing may befabricated of any material suitable for the purpose, including withoutlimitation, plastic, rubber, synthetic rubber, metal, resin, composite,etc. In a preferred aspect, the outer casing 810 may be fabricated of ashock absorbing material, such as a deformable polymer, in order topermit the electronic components of the monitoring device 800 towithstand the shock and vibrations of a ball strike when a golf clubhead in which the monitoring device 800 is installed, and/or to morereadily enable the monitoring device 800 to be secured within the golfclub head, i.e., with a friction fit, as previously described.

The monitoring device 800 may comprise a sensor component 820, which maycomprise, for example, a circuit board 825 onto which one or moresubcomponents, such as microprocessors, transmitters, accelerometers,resistors, capacitors, etc., may be mounted, arranged and connected.Such sensor component 820 may, for example, be of the type commerciallyavailable and employed in the shaft-mounted Swingbyte SB2 clip-on typesensor.

As further illustrated, the monitoring device 800 may comprise one ormore batteries 830 for powering the monitoring device's electroniccomponents. In one aspect, the batteries 830 may comprise aconfiguration complimentary to the inner contours of the outer casing810 of the monitoring device 800, in this case, generally cylindrical.Such batteries 830 may, for example, comprise a configuration similar towatch batteries. Other battery types and configurations are of coursepossible, provided they provide sufficient power to power the sensorcomponent 820, and have a size capable of being fitted within the outercasing 810. In an alternative aspect, the battery(ies) may be positionedwithin the shaft or grip of the golf club and connected to themonitoring device 800, such as with wiring.

The monitoring device 800 may further comprise one or more weights 840,for purposes of giving the monitoring device substantially the same massas the theoretical amount of golf club head material lost to achieve thehollow portion 220, for example the hypothetical plug of material 226.The battery(ies) 830 may comprise one or more weights for the samepurpose. The mass of theoretical amount of golf club head material lostto achieve the hollow portion (i.e., a void) may be called ahypothetical mass, which may be the mass of the hypothetical plug ofmaterial 226 and determined by multiplying the volume of the golf clubhead material lost by the density of the material lost. Additionally oralternatively, the outer casing 810 may be fabricated of sufficientlydense material to provide the same amount of needed mass. Statedotherwise, the monitoring device 800 may be configured with sufficientmass to provide a golf club head into which the monitoring device 800 issecured substantially the same weight as a comparable golf club headwithout a monitoring device 800 and without a hollow, void, or recessfor securing such a monitoring device (i.e., a stock golf club head).

In a preferred aspect of the disclosure, a monitoring device such asthose illustrated and described herein may be configured to compensatefor post impact vibrations to the golf club head. In a golf club headcomprising a monitoring device, the monitoring device may be configuredto transmit data responsive to a pre-impact swing path of the golf clubhead, to disregard or “trim” data responsive to a post-impact swingpath, and to determine a hypothetical post-impact swing path based atleast in part on at least a portion of the pre-impact swing path.

Referring now to FIG. 12, there is illustrated a graphic display,generally 1200, for a golf club swing path, such as achieved using aSwingbyte SB2-type sensor clamped or adhered to a golf club shaft asillustrated in FIG. 1. Such graphic display 1200 may be displayed on aremote device, such as a handheld device, i.e., a smart phone; aportable device, such as a tablet computer; or on a desktop device, suchas a computer terminal Such graphic display may be achieved usingcomponents, algorithms and software embedded in the shaft-mountedmonitoring device and/or the remote device, as described in U.S. Pat.No. 8,696,482.

The monitoring device may comprise a transmitter configured to transmitdata specific to the swing path to the remote device for processing anddisplaying as the graphic display 1200. As illustrated, the graphicdisplay 1200 may display a virtual golf club 1210 in one or more swingpositions, in this example, at the follow through position proximate theconclusion of a golf swing. As further illustrated, the graphic display1200 may display a swing path as recorded, sensed, and/or transmitted bythe shaft-mounted monitoring device. Such swing path as displayed maycomprise a pre-impact backswing path 1220, and a pre-impact downswingpath 1230, prior to the point of impact with a golf ball 1240. Thegraphic display may further display a hypothetical post impact golf ballpath 1250 and a post-impact swing path 1260. Because, in this example,the monitoring device is mounted to the shaft of the golf club, or eventhe grip, the post-impact swing path remains relatively unaffected bypost-impact vibrations experienced at the point of impact, i.e., thegolf club head.

Referring now to FIG. 13, there is illustrated a schematic graphicdisplay, generally 1300, displaying a virtual golf club head 1310 at thepoint of impact. The display 1300 illustrated in FIG. 13 is intended toillustrate recorded swing paths such as might be experienced in mountinga monitoring device of the prior art within a golf club head. As thereillustrated, a monitoring device mounted in the virtual golf club head1310 may result in a fairly reliable recording and display of thebackswing (i.e. pre-impact swing path 1320) and the downswing (i.e.,pre-impact swing path 1330) although as previously indicated, there maybe some head wobble during the backswing and downswing, but not nearlyas much as occurs post impact. As illustrated, at the point of impactwith the golf ball 1340, due to the massive vibrations to the virtualgolf club head 1310, particularly in the case of an off-center hit, thepost-impact swing path 1360 may be sporadic and of relatively littlepractical use from the point of impact with the golf ball 1340 untilsometime thereafter, illustrated as point 1342, where post-impactvibrations of the virtual golf club head 1310 have substantially ceased,to the point where the post-vibration post-impact swing path 1365 may bemore effectively recorded and displayed for effective use.

In a preferred aspect of the disclosure, the monitoring device (orremote device associated therewith) may be configured to trim data fromthe post-impact swing path with the golf ball 1340, to avoid theundesirable post-impact data, represented schematically as post-impactswing path 1360. Referring now to FIG. 14, there is illustrated a flowchart providing one way in which a monitoring device such as describedherein may be configured, at operation 1410, to transmit data associatedwith a path of the golf club head. The monitoring device may, atoperation 1420, disregard or “trim” data responsive to a post-impactswing path, illustrated schematically in FIG. 13 as “trim” lines 1366,1368 relative to post-impact swing path 1360. Trimming data, asdiscussed herein, may refer to excluding some of the extreme datavalues, a process called truncation. This is generally done to obtain amore robust estimation, and the extreme values are considered outliers.Any number of techniques may be used to trim data, such as the trimmedmean, modified mean, interquartile mean, midhinge, interdecile range, orinterquartile range, among other techniques.

At operation 1430, a hypothetical post-impact swing path, illustrated inFIG. 13 as 1370, may be determined based at least in part on at least aportion of data associated with a pre-impact swing path (i.e., data withregard to the pre-impact swing path 1330 or pre-impact swing path 1320).As illustrated, this determination may be made, for example, byextrapolating the hypothetical post-impact swing path 1370 from dataassociated with a portion 1330 a of the pre-impact swing path 1330proximate the point of impact, the golf ball 1340. As furtherillustrated in FIG. 13, the hypothetical post-impact swing path 1370 maybe displayed on the display 1300, and the “trimmed” data for thepost-impact swing path 1360 may be either displayed or not displayed.Data for the post-impact swing path 1360 (i.e., data of an “actual”post-impact swing path) may be considered data captured directly by oneor more sensors in a monitoring device or data not adjusted to considersubstantial impact related effects to the golf club head. As alsoillustrated, the display may “join” the hypothetical post-impact swingpath 1370 with the post-vibration post-impact swing path 1365 to displayan approximation of the actual swing path corrected for post-impactvibrations of the club head. At operation 1440, a resulting swing pathbased on the data associated with the pre-impact swing path and thehypothetical post-impact swing path may thus be displayed on the display1300.

In another aspect of the disclosure, the hypothetical post-impact swingpath 1370 may be determined at least in part by the data associated withpost-vibration post-impact swing path 1365. In this aspect, thepost-vibration post-impact swing path 1365 or a portion thereof may beextrapolated “backwards” (or interpolated) to create the hypotheticalpost-impact swing path 1370 or a portion thereof. In still anotheraspect, both the pre-impact swing path 1330 and the post-vibrationpost-impact swing path 1365, or portions thereof, may be extrapolated tocreate the hypothetical post-impact swing path 1370. In one aspect, suchextrapolations may be performed from both ends, represented by “trim”lines 1366, 1368, with the effective resulting hypothetical post-impactswing path 1370 meeting in the middle or substantially in the middle ofthe two “trim” lines 1366, 1368.

In yet another aspect of the disclosure, the monitoring device 230 maybe configured to store and/or transmit data from several practiceswings, i.e., swings without a golf ball impact, and use such storedand/or transmitted data to “normalize” or otherwise adjust thepost-impact swing path 1360 and create the hypothetical post-impactswing path 1370. In yet another aspect, the monitoring device 230 may beconfigured to store and/or transmit data from multiple swings with agolf ball impact, and sum, average, or otherwise use such stored and/ortransmitted data from multiple swings to adjust the post-impact swingpath 1360 and create the hypothetical post-impact swing path 1370. Inthis aspect, two or three such swings may be sufficient to securereliable results.

Another aspect of the disclosure is a system illustrated in FIG. 15. Inthis aspect, a golf club, generally 1500, comprising a golf club head1510 connected via a hosel 1515 to a shaft 1520 having a grip 1530 maybe provided with a monitoring device 1540 in the head, substantially asdescribed herein or as described, as another example, in U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. US 2013/0267338 A1. In this aspect, the golfclub 1500 may additionally comprise a monitoring device 1550, that may,for example, be attached to the shaft 1520, and exhibit substantiallythe same functionality as the monitoring device 1540, in terms ofsensing motion of the golf club 1500 and processing, storing, andtransmitting data pertaining thereto. The monitoring devices 1540, 1550may communicate with and/or be used in conjunction with a remoteapparatus 1570 such as a computer tablet, smart phone, laptop computer,etc. In this aspect, the monitoring device 1540, monitoring device 1550,and/or related remote apparatus 1570 may be configured to receive,process, transmit, and/or display only the best data available from themonitoring device 1540 and monitoring device 1550. For example,referring now to FIG. 16, the monitoring device 1540 may be used at alltimes during the swing except from the point of impact of the golf clubhead 1510 with a ball 1610 until a point 1620 at which the vibration ofthe golf club head 1510 post impact substantially ceases, and/or exceptat the top 1630 of the backswing, where the golf club head experiences“wobble.” In the context of the previous example, the monitoring device1550 may be used at times during the swing when monitoring device 1540is not used (i.e., at impact or at the top of the backswing).

As another example, the golf club 1500 may have additional monitoringdevices, such as a monitoring device 1525 within the shaft 1520 and/or amonitoring device 1535 within the grip 1530, to provide multipleopportunities to capture the most accurate readings from multiple partsof the swing. As illustrated, the plurality of monitoring devices 1525,1535, 1540, 1550 may be relatively evenly spaced along the golf club1500, for example, generally along the longitudinal axis or center lineC/L of the sporting apparatus handle, shaft, hosel, etc. Other numbersof monitoring devices and spacing and monitoring device securingarrangements are of course contemplated herein.

The plurality of monitoring devices 1525, 1535, 1540, 1550 may cooperateto determine the most accurate and/or relevant swing path data dependingon which of the plurality of monitoring devices 1525, 1535, 1540, 1550is capturing the most accurate and/or relevant data at various positionsof the swing being analyzed. Referring again to FIG. 16, if it is known(or determined by the system), for example, in the case of a golf club1500 swing, that the monitoring device 1540 provides the mostaccurate/relevant swing data from the point of takeaway 1640 to justbefore the top 1630 of the backswing and from a point just prior to thepoint of impact of ball 1610, that monitoring device may only have itsdata used for those two portions of the swing. If it is further known,for example, that the monitoring device 1535 provides the mostaccurate/relevant swing data from the top 1630 of the backswing to anintermediate point 1650, for example, around the point where the golfclub 1500 is parallel to the ground on the downswing, that monitoringdevice may only have its data used for that portion of the swing.Similarly, if the monitoring device 1550 provides the mostaccurate/relevant swing data from the intermediate point 1650 to thepoint 1660 just prior to the point of impact with the ball 1610, thatmonitoring device may only have its data used for that portion of theswing. And if it is further known, for example, that the monitoringdevice 1525 provides the most accurate/relevant swing data from thepoint of impact with the ball 1610 through the rest of the golf swing1670 (i.e., follow through), that monitoring device may only have itsdata used for that portion of the swing.

Two or more of the plurality of monitoring devices 1525, 1535, 1540,1550 may communicate with a computing device, such as remote apparatus1570, any one of the other monitoring devices, or any other device,configured to perform, for example, an intermediate step of calculationand sorting that makes sense of data from the plurality of monitoringdevices 1525, 1535, 1540, 1550 in order to have their respective swingdata captured, compared, trimmed, normalized, and/or aggregated in orderto create an integrated set of data representative of the best availabledata for the swing being analyzed.

FIG. 17 illustrates an exemplary method for determining a swing path. Atoperation 1705, a first data of a first swing of a first sportingapparatus is captured. The first data may be from one or more devices,such as remote apparatus 1570, monitoring devices 1525, 1535, 1540, or1550, or the like. The first swing may be a non-impact swing (forexample, a swing without an impact with a second sporting apparatus) oran impact swing (for example, a swing that the first sporting apparatusimpacts a second sporting apparatus). At operation 1710, a second dataof a second swing of the first sporting apparatus is captured. Thesecond swing may be a non-impact or impact swing. The time between thefirst swing and the second swing may be within a short stretch of time,such as seconds or minutes, or within a long stretch of time, such ashours, days, or weeks.

At operation 1715, the first data and/or second data may be adjusted.The first data and/or second data may be adjusted by trimming,normalizing, or another statistical based method or non-statisticalbased method in order to assist in determining a swing path that mayinclude a pre-impact path or a post-impact path. In an example, whenthere is a non-impact swing, the remote apparatus 1570 or one or more ofthe monitoring devices 1525, 1535, 1540, or 1550 (separately ortogether) may delineate data from a pre-impact swing path and data froma post-impact swing path based on an estimation of a hypothetical pointof impact of a ball (since there is no impact of a ball in a non-impactswing). In this example, after the data of the pre-impact swing path andpost-impact swing path have been determined, then the post-impact swingpath may be trimmed and normalized.

At operation 1720, a hypothetical swing path (i.e., hypotheticalpost-impact swing path and/or the hypothetical pre-impact swing path)for the first swing or the second swing may be determined based on thefirst data, the second data, the adjusted first data, and/or theadjusted second data. At operation 1725, hypothetical post-impact flightpath (i.e., ball path 1625) of a sporting object (i.e., the ball 1610)may be determined based on the first data, the second data, the adjustedfirst data, and/or the adjusted second data. For example, a trimmedand/or normalized post-impact swing path or pre-impact swing path may beused in the determination of the flight of the ball 1610 or ahypothetical ball (for example in the situation of a non-impact swing).At operation 1730, the hypothetical post-impact swing path and/or thepost-impact sports object flight path may be displayed as in shown inFIG. 16, for example. The operations of FIG. 17 and other methodsdiscussed herein may be performed on a single device or distributed overmultiple devices. Although several operations are discussed herein, itis understood that one or more operations may be removed or performed inany reasonable order.

In another aspect, a system of the present disclosure may comprise aplurality of sporting apparatus, for example, a golf glove with amonitoring device therein, an arm band with a monitoring device therein,and/or a golf club with one or more monitoring devices therein, eachmonitoring device being configured to monitor a user's motion, such as agolf swing, the system being configured to pick and choose among thevarious monitoring devices which of them is, at any point during themotion being monitored, which monitoring device is transmitting the mostaccurate and/or relevant motion data, the system being furtherconfigured to process and accumulate (or sum) such data to result in adisplay of the user's path of motion being monitored.

FIG. 18 and the following discussion are intended to provide a briefgeneral description of a suitable computing system in which the methodsand systems disclosed herein and/or portions thereof may be implemented.Although not required, the methods and systems disclosed herein aredescribed in the general context of computer-executable instructions,such as program modules, being executed by a computing system.Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures and the like that perform particular tasksor implement particular abstract data types. It should be appreciatedthe methods and systems disclosed herein or portions thereof may bepracticed with computer system configurations, including a clientworkstation, server, hand-held device, multi-processor system,microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronic, network PC,minicomputer, mainframe computer, and the like. The methods and systemsmay also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasksare performed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram representing a general purpose computersystem in which aspects of the methods and systems disclosed herein orportions thereof may be incorporated. The monitoring devices (i.e., themonitoring device 230, 400, 500, 600, 700, and 800, etc.), the remoteapparatus 1570, among other devices may include one or more of thecomponents of computing device 1820 as described herein. As shown, theexemplary general purpose computing system includes a computer 1820 orthe like, including a processing unit 1821, a system memory 1822, and asystem bus 1823 that couples various system components including thesystem memory to the processing unit 1821. The system bus 1823 may beany of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memorycontroller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety ofbus architectures. The system memory includes read-only memory (ROM)1824 and random access memory (RAM) 1825. A basic input/output system1826 (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transferinformation between elements within the computer 1820, such as duringstart-up, is stored in ROM 1824.

The computer 1820 may further include a hard disk drive 1827 for readingfrom and writing to a hard disk (not shown), a magnetic disk drive 1828for reading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk 1829, and anoptical disk drive 1830 for reading from or writing to a removableoptical disk 1831 such as a CD-ROM or other optical media. The hard diskdrive 1827, magnetic disk drive 1828, and optical disk drive 1830 areconnected to the system bus 1823 by a hard disk drive interface 1832, amagnetic disk drive interface 1833, and an optical drive interface 1834,respectively. The drives and their associated computer-readable mediaprovide non-volatile storage of computer readable instructions, datastructures, program modules and other data for the computer 1820. Asdescribed herein, computer-readable media is an article of manufactureand thus not a transient signal.

Although the exemplary environment described herein employs a hard disk,a removable magnetic disk 1829, and a removable optical disk 1831, itshould be appreciated that other types of computer readable media whichcan store data that is accessible by a computer may also be used in theexemplary operating environment. Such other types of media include, butare not limited to, a magnetic cassette, a flash memory card, a digitalvideo or versatile disk, a Bernoulli cartridge, a random access memory(RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), and the like.

A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk, magneticdisk 1829, optical disk 1831, ROM 1824 or RAM 1825, including anoperating system 1835, one or more application programs 1836, otherprogram modules 1837 and program data 1838. A user may enter commandsand information into the computer 1820 through input devices such as akeyboard 1840 and pointing device 1842. Other input devices (not shown)may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite disk, scanner,or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to theprocessing unit 1821 through a serial port interface 1846 that iscoupled to the system bus, but may be connected by other interfaces,such as a parallel port, game port, or universal serial bus (USB). Amonitor 1847 or other type of display device is also connected to thesystem bus 1823 via an interface, such as a video adapter 1848. Inaddition to the monitor 1847, a computer may include other peripheraloutput devices (not shown), such as speakers and printers. The exemplarysystem of FIG. 18 also includes a host adapter 1855, a Small ComputerSystem Interface (SCSI) bus 1856, and an external storage device 1862connected to the SCSI bus 1856.

The computer 1820 may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer1849 (i.e., the monitoring device 230). The remote computer 1849 may bea personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device orother common network node, and may include many or all of the elementsdescribed above relative to the computer 1820, although only a memorystorage device 1850 has been illustrated in FIG. 18. The logicalconnections depicted in FIG. 18 include a local area network (LAN) 1851and a wide area network (WAN) 1852. Such networking environments arecommonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets,and the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1820 isconnected to the LAN 1851 through a network interface or adapter 1853.When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 1820 may includea modem 1854 or other means for establishing communications over thewide area network 1852, such as the Internet. The modem 1854, which maybe internal or external, is connected to the system bus 1823 via theserial port interface 1846. In a networked environment, program modulesdepicted relative to the computer 1820, or portions thereof, may bestored in the remote memory storage device. It will be appreciated thatthe network connections shown are exemplary and other means ofestablishing a communications link between the computers may be used.

Computer 1820 may include a variety of computer readable storage media.Computer readable storage media can be any available media that can beaccessed by computer 1820 and includes both volatile and nonvolatilemedia, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and notlimitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage mediaand communication media. Computer storage media include both volatileand nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in anymethod or technology for storage of information such as computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data.Computer storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM,EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or any other medium which can be used to store the desired informationand which can be accessed by computer 1820. Combinations of any of theabove should also be included within the scope of computer readablemedia that may be used to store source code for implementing the methodsand systems described herein. Any combination of the features orelements disclosed herein may be used in one or more embodiments.

In describing preferred embodiments of the subject matter of the presentdisclosure, as illustrated in the Figures, specific terminology isemployed for the sake of clarity. The claimed subject matter, however,is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected,and it is to be understood that each specific element includes alltechnical equivalents that operate in a similar manner to accomplish asimilar purpose.

This written description uses examples to disclose the invention andalso to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention,including making and using any devices or systems and performing anyincorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is definedby the claims, and may include other examples that occur to thoseskilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within thescope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differfrom the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalentstructural elements with insubstantial differences from the literallanguages of the claims.

We claim:
 1. A sporting apparatus comprising a monitoring device, themonitoring device configured to transmit data responsive to a pre-impactswing path of the sporting apparatus, to trim data responsive to apost-impact swing path of the sporting apparatus, and to determine ahypothetical post-impact swing path of the sporting apparatus based atleast in part on at least a portion of the data responsive to thepre-impact swing path of the sporting apparatus.
 2. The sportingapparatus of claim 1 comprising golf club head having a sole portion anda face portion, the sole portion comprising a hollow sized and shaped tocompliment the monitoring device when the monitoring device is installedwithin the hollow, the hollow having a volume corresponding to a mass ofdisplaced material from the golf club head, the mass of displacedmaterial substantially equaling a mass of the monitoring device asinstalled.
 3. The sporting apparatus of claim 1 wherein the monitoringdevice is further configured to determine a post-vibration post-impactswing path of the sporting apparatus and determine the hypotheticalpost-impact swing path of the sporting apparatus based at least in parton at least a portion of the post-vibration post-impact swing path. 4.The sporting apparatus of claim 1 wherein the hypothetical post-impactswing path of the sporting apparatus comprises a path from a point ofimpact of the sporting apparatus with a sporting object until a pointsubstantially corresponding to a post-impact position at whichpost-impact vibrations of the sporting apparatus have substantiallyceased.
 5. A golf club head comprising a first portion comprising afirst material of construction having a first density, and a void in thefirst portion configured to receive a monitoring device, the void havinga first volume that, when multiplied by the first density comprises ahypothetical mass; the monitoring device comprising components thattogether have a mass of the monitoring device substantially equaling thehypothetical mass.
 6. The golf club head of claim 5, the monitoringdevice comprising one or more of a circuit board, a housing, a weight,and fastener.
 7. The golf club head of claim 5 wherein the monitoringdevice has a second volume substantially equaling the first volume. 8.The golf club head of claim 5 wherein the monitoring device has a seconddensity substantially equaling the first density.
 9. The golf club headof claim 5, wherein the monitoring device has a first center of gravityCG_(s), and the golf club head has a hypothetical center of gravityCG_(h) comprising a center of gravity of the golf club head with thevoid filled with the first material of construction, and the firstcenter of gravity CG_(s) substantially aligns with the hypotheticalcenter of gravity CG_(h) when the monitoring device is installed in thegolf club head.
 10. A golf club head comprising a hollow configured toreceive a monitoring device having a first monitoring device end and asecond monitoring device end, the hollow being elongate and having afirst hollow end and a second hollow end, the first hollow endconfigured to receive a fastener to secure the first monitoring deviceend to the golf club head; the second monitoring device end configuredto secure the second monitoring device end to the golf club head uponthe fastener securing the first monitoring device end.
 11. The golf clubhead of claim 10 wherein the second monitoring device end is configuredto be secured to the golf club head via a friction fit.
 12. The golfclub head of claim 10 wherein the second monitoring device end comprisesa generally frustoconical configuration.
 13. The golf club head of claim10 wherein the second monitoring device end comprises a wedge-shapedportion.
 14. The golf club head of claim 13 wherein the wedge-shapedportion is configured to be slideably received within a groove in thehollow.
 15. The golf club head of claim 10 wherein the second monitoringdevice end comprises an o-ring comprising a deformable material.
 16. Thegolf club head of claim 15 wherein the o-ring is retained by a groove inthe monitoring device.
 17. The golf club head of claim 15 wherein theo-ring is retained by a groove in the hollow.
 18. The golf club head ofclaim 11 wherein a second end comprises a deformable material.
 19. Thegolf club head of claim 10 wherein the golf club head proximate thefirst hollow end has a first club head contour, and the golf club headproximate the second hollow end has a second club head contour, and thesecond monitoring device end comprises a second monitoring device endcontour that substantially complements the second club head contour whenthe monitoring device is secured within the golf club head.
 20. Thesporting apparatus of claim 1 wherein the monitoring device isconfigured to store and/or transmit data from one or more practiceswings, and use such stored and/or transmitted data to normalize thepost impact swing path of the sporting apparatus.
 21. A systemcomprising a remote device and a sporting apparatus having alongitudinal axis and comprising a first monitoring device and a secondmonitoring device, the first monitoring device and second monitoringdevice being spaced apart relative to the longitudinal axis and securedto the sporting apparatus, the first monitoring device and secondmonitoring device each comprising a monitoring device configured totransmit data corresponding to a swing of the sporting apparatus to theremote device, the system configured to: a. determine which of the firstmonitoring device and the second monitoring device is, during a firstportion of the swing of the sporting apparatus, transmitting data mostreflective of the first portion of the swing of the sporting apparatus,b. capture the data most reflective of the first portion of the swing ofthe sporting apparatus, c. determine which of the first monitoringdevice and the second monitoring device is, during a second portion ofthe swing of the sporting apparatus, transmitting data most reflectiveof the second portion of the swing of the sporting apparatus, d. capturethe data most reflective of the second portion of the swing of thesporting apparatus, and e. accumulate the data most reflective of thefirst portion of the swing of the sporting apparatus with the data mostreflective of the second portion of the swing of the sporting apparatus.22. The system of claim 21 wherein the first monitoring device isconfigured to transmit the data most reflective of the first portion ofthe swing of the sporting apparatus, and the second monitoring device isconfigured to transmit the data most reflective of the second portion ofthe swing of the sporting apparatus.
 23. The system of claim 21 whereinthe first monitoring device is secured to the sporting apparatus at aproximal end thereof, and the second monitoring device is secured to thesporting apparatus at a distal end thereof.
 24. The system of claim 21comprising one or more additional monitoring devices, wherein the firstmonitoring device, the second monitoring device, and the one or moreadditional monitoring devices are substantially equally spaced along thelongitudinal axis of the sporting apparatus.
 25. The system of claim 21wherein the sporting apparatus comprises a golf club.
 26. A firstsporting apparatus, the first sporting apparatus comprising: a firstmonitoring device near an area of impact of the first sportingapparatus, the first monitoring device comprising: a processor; and amemory coupled with the processor, the memory comprising executableinstructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor toeffectuate operations comprising: capturing data of a pre-impact path ofa swing of the first sporting apparatus; capturing data of a post-impactpath of the swing of the first sporting apparatus; trimming the data ofthe post-impact path; and determining a hypothetical swing path of theswing of the first sporting apparatus based on the data of thepre-impact path and the trimmed data of the post-impact path.
 27. Thefirst sporting apparatus of claim 26, wherein the determining of thehypothetical swing path of the swing of the first sporting apparatus isadditionally based on at least data of an impact of the swing of thefirst sporting apparatus with a sporting object.
 28. The first sportingapparatus of claim 26, wherein trimming the data of the post-impact pathcomprises removing data captured during substantial post-impactvibrations of the first sporting apparatus.
 29. The first sportingapparatus of claim 26, wherein the hypothetical swing path is ahypothetical post-impact swing path.
 30. A system comprising: a firstsporting apparatus, the first sporting apparatus comprising: a firstmonitoring device, the first monitoring device comprising: a firstprocessor; and a first memory coupled with the first processor, thefirst memory comprising executable instructions that when executed bythe first processor cause the first processor to effectuate operationscomprising: capturing data of a first pre-impact path of a first swingportion of a first swing of the first sporting apparatus; and capturingdata of a first post-impact path of a second swing portion of the firstswing of the first sporting apparatus; and a remote apparatus, theremote apparatus comprising: a remote processor; and a remote memorycoupled with the remote processor, the remote memory comprisingexecutable instructions that when executed by the remote processor causethe remote processor to effectuate operations comprising: receiving thedata of the first pre-impact path and the data of the first post-impactpath; trimming the data of the first post-impact swing path; anddetermining a hypothetical post-impact swing path of the first swing ofthe first sporting apparatus based on the data of the first pre-impactpath, and the trimmed data of the first post-impact path.
 31. The systemof claim 30, wherein the remote processor further effectuates operationscomprising determining the hypothetical post-impact swing path of thefirst swing of the first sporting apparatus additionally based at leaston data of a portion of the first post-impact swing path, wherein thedata of the portion of the first post-impact swing path comprising dataof when vibrations of the first sporting apparatus have substantiallyceased.
 32. The system of claim 30, wherein the first monitoring deviceis located near an area of impact for the first sporting apparatus. 33.The system of claim 30, wherein the remote processor further effectuatesoperations comprising determining the hypothetical post-impact swingpath of the first swing of the first sporting apparatus additionallybased on at least data of a second swing of the first sportingapparatus.
 34. The system of claim 30, wherein the remote processorfurther effectuates operations comprising determining the hypotheticalpost-impact swing path of the first swing of the first sportingapparatus additionally based on data of a second monitoring device neara non-impact area of the first sporting apparatus.
 35. The system ofclaim 30, wherein the remote processor further effectuates operationscomprising providing instructions to display the hypotheticalpost-impact swing path.
 36. A method comprising: a. capturing data of afirst pre-impact path of a first swing of a sporting apparatuscomprising a monitoring device, the monitoring device being sized,shaped, and positioned relative to the sporting apparatus such that thesporting apparatus comprising the monitoring device exhibits swingcharacteristics substantially similar to a comparable sporting apparatuswithout the monitoring device; b. capturing data of a first post-impactpath of the first swing of the sporting apparatus; c. trimming the dataof the first post-impact path; and d. determining, based at least inpart on the data of the first pre-impact path and trimming the data ofthe first post-impact path, a first hypothetical swing path of thesporting apparatus.
 37. The method of claim 36 further comprisingdisplaying the first hypothetical swing path on a display.
 38. Themethod of claim 36 wherein trimming the data of the first post-impactpath comprises removing data captured during substantial post-impactvibrations of the sporting apparatus.
 39. The method of claim 36comprising: e. capturing data of a second pre-impact path based on asecond swing of the sporting apparatus; f. capturing data of a secondpost-impact path based on the second swing of the sporting apparatus; g.trimming the data of the second post-impact path; and h. determining,based at least in part on the first hypothetical swing path, the data ofthe second pre-impact path and trimming the data of the secondpost-impact path, a second hypothetical swing path of the sportingapparatus.